FORBIDDEN
Dawn was breaking and his head turned slowly to the window. First light had arrived. The only glimmer he had seen in so many years. How he longed to walk in it once more, knowing that it could never be. Softly he answered her question.."Yes, it will be fine for me to sleep here, but wait..." His voice filled with terrible longing.. "Just for a moment. Let me see... Let me see the brightness of the sun that my immortal eyes will never see again." He rose from the bed, gaze fixed on the window as he slowly took each step towards it. "Let me feel the warmth for just an instant...Tempt the very fates that have damned me. Let me experience it all." But even as he said the words, he
knew how foolish he was being. He had neither the strength, nor the years behind him as others did, to face the sun at any level.. Sadly, that realization became clear to him, but he remained quiet, keeping her in ignorance. And how it was tempting him..the slowly rising brightness drawing him in. Ignoring what she may be feeling, he focussed on playing a game he must surely lose. Pressing his palms on the wall either side of the window, he slipped his face between the drapes, speaking to her as he did so. "Have you ever wanted something so much that you will go to any lengths to ensure you will receive it? I know that what I am doing now is very foolish.. and yet I can't stop. I yearn to see the light again so desperately, that I place myself in danger."
She had heard the yearning in his voice as he had looked towards the heavily draped window. How terrible to be denied the warmth of the sun; to be forever kept from that life giving light. As he rose from the bed and crossed the room, she had propped her head on her hand, watching the fluid movement of muscles beneath alabaster skin. Content and tranquil in the after glow of their passion, she stretched, cat like. A pleasant ache in muscles well used this night reminded her of what had gone before. Completely oblivious to his intentions, until he approached the window and uttered the fateful words "I yearn to see the light so desperately." Suddenly, she knew.. "Louis... No!!, she screamed, jumping from the bed, wild eyed and frantic.. Tripping and nearly falling over the clothes carelessly discarded on the floor. in a few steps she reached his side. and pulled at his arm. The flesh appeared as cold and hard as marble, also as unyielding.. "Come away from here, please," her heart aching as tears filled her eyes. Squeezing and pushing her body between him and the window, desperation giving her a strength previously unknown.. Feeling the warmth of the sun on her naked back as she cried out his name over and over....pleading with him...tears streaming down her cheeks. "You can't do this, Louis.. Please, please, I need you." Appearing akin to some wild-haired harpie, her small hands beat futilely against his hard chest... eyes blinded by tears as the sobs wracked her body. "Are you mad? If you die, so will I". Looking around frantically, her eyes searching through a veil of tears, finally spotting the leather bag near her feet. Wriggling down enough, she managed to fumble in it, fingers questing for what she sought..and then pulling out a wicked looking knife. The cold steel caught the light as she brought it to her throat in an act of sheer despair. The sharp blade parted her skin and the blood ran scalding down her chest.. "I will die without you, Louis.," her voice broken as she still tried to push him back with her free hand.
The moment he saw the blade come into view, he had begun to feel the overwhelming sense of fear that she would do harm to herself.. The blood fell over her skin as she mindlessly cut into it, seeming not to realize herself that she was doing so. A second later, he took hold of it, using the advantage of his immortal strength to yank it from her, without causing further damage. He heard the blade hit the floor but his senses were on her. Filled with anger at her having done such a thing, yet the reason behind it filled him also with sadness. Grabbing her arm, he pulled her away forcibly, causing her to stumble backwards, closed the heavy curtains, then rounded on her quickly. "What is it that you think you were doing? His voice rose to a shout.."Don't you realize that it would hurt me to watch you die? Can't you see th......" He stopped,seeing how absolutely hypocritical that sounded, when he himself had just minutes before taunted death to take him.. "I'm sorry," his voice returning to its usual softness.."I know you were only doing it because you were afraid of what I was doing. Please forgive me. I need you, as you have said you need me, and I wasn't thinking. I became too absorbed with it...the radiance.. the warmth.. and it reminded me of what I will never have again."
In sheer desperation, she had done the only thing that might deflect him from his course. Knowing that he had not fed fully, and hoping that the blood would draw him more powerfully than the lure of the destructive sunlight. And it succeeded, as he wrested the knife from her hand and pulled her roughly away from the window.. When he released her arm, she staggered back until the wall stopped her from going any further. Heart quaking, she saw the fury that contorted the perfect face. He started shouting.. the voice normally so soft; that could make her shiver with desire, was now filled with wrath; beating relentlessly against her eardrums. Lifting her hands, vaguely registering the blood that covered them, she put them to her ears. Her head was reeling from the verbal blows, when suddenly his tone changed, as he became aware of the reason behind such a foolhardy act. .The terror that had almost paralyzed her body at the thought of losing him...